Based on 46 candidates, Ward’s Auto just released its list of the top 10 best interiors of 2013, heavily favoring Asian vehicles. As is usual, the cars aren’t listed in any particular order.
Perhaps the most interesting choice, Chevrolet’s Spark sub-compact made this list this year because of its funky neon color scheme.
Large and in charge. Big is beautiful. Size matters. Yes, there are endless clichés to support the notion that the bigger something is, the better it is. In the automotive kingdom, some vehicles not only adhere to this philosophy, but redefine it. We aren’t talking the puny realm of offerings like the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry or even Dodge Charger. No, this is for the serious four wheeled hippos. The cars where it is more fun to be in the backseat than the front seat.
If you have more money to burn than the average NFL Quarterback, then there are some serious vehicles you can buy that are seriously long. How about the 220.9-inch Phantom Coupe? Not long enough for you? You could upsize to the 239.8-inch Phantom extended-wheelbase sedan, or maybe the 242.7-inch Maybach 62?
But for the rest of us mere mortals, there are some sizable vehicles out there under $100,000. Heck, two of the top ten are even under $30,000. So we will now present to you the top ten vehicles that are longer than The Hobbit.
Cadillac is recalling about 180 XTS vehicles north of the border over issues with the rear seat headrest mechanisms.
Due to a glitch with its OnStar system, General Motors has been forced to stop the sale of several models as the American automaker moves quickly to resolve the issue.
Unlike modern trends of SUVs going to uni-body construction and adopting smaller more fuel efficient engines, Cadillac says that then next generation Escalade will stay large, and forgo some mpg for power and presence.
Called the ‘glamour’ concept, Cadillac teased us with photos today of the new concept that they say will debut at an undisclosed autoshow sometime in 2013.
The Cadillac lineup has just been bolstered thanks to the recent introduction of the ATS and XTS, but the real product boost will come in 2013, when the CTS and Escalade get redesigned, and the all new ELR sports coupe debuts.
Cadillac is developing a self-driving car, but until its ready, the company is offering a long list of collision avoidance features that will debut on the all new full size sedan, the XTS.
Amidst all that’s unique about the Cadillac XTS, the powertrain stands out as a less-than-original feature.
Rap lovers won’t be pouring any Olde English out over the Cadillac Escalade just yet because the brand has decided to keep it alive.
The Cadillac XTS may be hitting showrooms soon as the American luxury automaker’s flagship luxury sedan, but a rear-wheel drive successor is already on the drawing board for a possible 2015 debut.
Cadillac is doing everything it can to prepare customers for the launch of its upcoming CUE (Cadillac User Experience) infotainment system. That includes throwing in an iPad with every 2013 Cadillac XTS.
Cadillac is releasing its new XTS sedan to market soon, and to preview the car to the public the company has released a new commercial.
The Cadillac XTS W20 livery sedan has already been announced as a car meant for chauffeurs and high-end delivery companies, and now we know that by the end of 2012 Cadillac will offer the package meant for up-fitting the W20 into a limousine.
The new 2013 Cadillac XTS is Cadillac’s new flagship luxury sedan, and when it hits dealers in the spring it will start at a base price of $44, 995.
There will be three trim levels available on the XTS: Luxury, Premium and Platinum. The platinum model will be the top of the line XTS and come with standard unique wheels, interior trim and unique materials to set itself apart from the other two options packages.
Cadillac’s new CUE infotainment system will also be included in the XTS, and promises to offer users an intuitive control experience. “CUE is intuitive, in part because its control and command structure aims to be consistent with popular devices millions of people already use,” said Don Butler, vice president of Cadillac marketing.
The XTS will premiere Cadillac’s new “directional tactile sensation,” system, which is essentially a setup that warns the driver of potential collisions by vibrating the bottom of the seat.
The XTS will be competing with the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, Audi A6, Lexus GS, BMW 5-Series and Infiniti M37.
The all-new Cadillac XTS will start production this spring and when it finally hits dealerships, it will be the industry’s first car to feature directional tactile sensation to warn drivers of potential crash threats.
While the “directional tactile sensation” name might sound fancy, in laymen’s terms it’s simply vibrations of the driver’s seat bottom. That’s right, if you’re in danger of crashing your new XTS luxury sedan, the seat will buzz your bum. The vibrating pulse patterns will emit from the lower bolster of the seat, and will be directional (left or right) depending on where the potential threat is emanating. If the potential crash is in the front or rear of the vehicle, the Cadillac Safety Alert Seat will kick in on both sides of the seat.
Cadillac’s announcement to use haptic feedback in the seat comes coincidentally after we reported AT&T Labs researching the use of vibrations in the steering wheel to help make in-car navigation less distracting.
“It’s akin to someone tapping on your shoulder in a crowd to get your attention,” said, General Motors active safety technical fellow Raymond Kiefer. “Using the tactile sense to communicate crash threat direction provides an effective and intuitive way to cut through the clutter of visual and auditory sensory information that drivers routinely experience.”
The vibrating seats will be part of the Cadillac Driver Awareness and Driver Assist packages and also includes Forward Collision Alert, Lane Departure Warning, Side Blind Zone Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Alert in the Driver Awareness Package, available in spring for the launch of the XTS. The Driver Assist Package on the other hand, will be available in fall and also uses the Safety Alert Seat and features Adaptive Cruise Control, Automatic Collision Preparation, and Front and Rear Automatic Braking Systems.
Both packages will also be made available to the Cadillac ATS and SRX models.
Watch a couple videos of the new 2013 Cadillac XTS safety features after the break.
Surely things are changing around the automotive manufacturing world. Ford continues to push its EcoBoost engines and now GM appears to have a pair of twin-turbo V6 engines currently in development.
We first heard about GM working on a 3.0L twin-turbo V6 powerplant almost two years ago and it was widely believed that the company would probably stick to only one twin-turbo V6 since its fifth generation of their small block V8 was also around coming. Now, reports are surfacing that GM does indeed have a second, 3.6-liter twin-turbo V6 in the works.
Looking back on 2009, GM and Jay Leno teamed up to build a Chevy Camaro Concept for SEMA that packed a 3.6L twin-turbo V6. Back then, the American automaker claimed it produced 425-hp, so it’s probably safe to speculate that a production 3.6L twin-turbo V6 from GM would have at least 400-hp.
The 3.0L twin-turbo V6 should make its way into the Cadillac XTS (pictured above) and CTS models with an eight-speed automatic transmission. The 3.6L however could be seen in the upcoming ATS-V performance car. The 3.6L twin-turbo V6 currently in development might only be seen in Cadillac models, though that’s just speculation.
[Source: GM Inside News]
Cadillac‘s 2013 XTS will get new safety features starting this fall that make it GM’s most technically advanced production car to date.
Known as sensor fusion, GM’s latest safety system uses a complex mix of tools to alert drivers of potential hazards. Essentially, it combines GM’s list of safety technologies and as the name would suggest, fuses them to provide a greater level of information to the driver than was available on past GM vehicles.
“We believe sensor fusion will enable future active safety systems to handle a greater number of inputs to provide 360 degrees of crash risk detection and enhanced driver assist features,” said Bakhtiar Litkouhi, GM Research and Development lab group manager for perception and vehicle control systems.
While the alerts XTS drivers will enjoy aren’t new, the way GM is integrating them into one system is.
“A system that combines the strengths of multiple sensing technologies and expertly manages those inputs can provide advisory, warning, and control interventions to help drivers avoid collisions and save lives,” Litkouhi said.
Looking into the future, GM says sensor fusion is a step toward autonomous driving, something we’ve already seen Volvo and BMW working on.
Beyond that, the company is using their sensor technology to help develop other systems like LIDAR, a light detecting and ranging technology that uses laser pulses to measure an upcoming vehicle’s proximity to the driver.
For more info on GM’s sensor fusion system, watch this video.
Cadillac has some big plans for its new 2013 XTS sedan that made its debut at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show. GM has announced that Cadillac will unveil the XTS W20 Livery Sedan Package at the upcoming 28th Annual International Limousine, Charter and Tour Show, but the big news is that Cadillac Master Coachbuilder (CMC) is working on an extended sedan and limousine variant of the new XTS.
The XTS W20 Livery Sedan Package is targeted towards professional use, and it appears that it’ll retain the regular XTS’s wheelbase length. The other two variants currently being worked on by CMC however, will be built for the chauffeured transportation market by the end of the year.
Limousine, Charter and Tour Magazine is reporting that CMC will be able to extend the XTS’s length by up to 70 inches for the “V4U” XTS Limousine, and up to 8 inches can be added to the wheelbase for the “W30″ XTS-L sedan for improved rear legroom. Neither of these variants will be on display at the upcoming Limousine, Charter and Tour Show however.
“This new vehicle will help dispel some of the myths out there about Cadillac,” said Ray Bush, Cadillac Professional Vehicles Program Manager. “The Cadillac of old was from the standpoint of large, floaty vehicles. Cadillac has moved away from that with its new products launched over the last 10 years. The XTS will further that with outstanding ride characteristics that compare favorably with Cadillac vehicles of the past.”
[Source: World Car Fans]
For 2014 Chevrolet will be unveiling the all new Impala, which is long overdue for a redesign. The new Impala will be built at the Oshawa, ON assembly plant along side Cadillac’s new flagship XTS model. The two will share the same platform and, it seems, even some styling cues.
Spy photos show the new Impala, still camouflaged of course, but enough that it is obvious that Chevrolet is going after a much more upscale sleek look then the now bland old Impala. This redesign has a lot riding on it as the Impala is one of the most popular fleet cars in North America. If the new 2014 model can retain the family and fleet-friendly pricing of its predecessor and capture the elegance of a Caddy it is sure to be a hit.
GM announced Friday that it will be investing $68 million into the Oshawa plant to get the new line of Impala’s up and running and they should hit dealers sometime in early 2013.
[Source: Automotive News]
After growing rumors that the Buick Regal GS might be joined by a larger sporty sibling, GM has finally gone on the record and quashed any notion of a LaCrosse Gran Sport model.
Given that the upcoming Cadillac XTS (which shares architecture with the LaCrosse) was slated to receive a version of GM’s twin-turbo V6, it was a logical step, say some to place a version of this motor in the Buick.
That said, with the LaCrosse having already received more power for the 2012 model year, in the shape of the 303 hp LFX 3.6-liter bent six engine, perhaps the idea of a GS model with a turbo motor seems a bit superfluous, at least for the time being. Further adding to that notion is the recently unveiled LaCrosse GL concept (shown above), which hints that the plans for Buick’s largest new generation car are slanted more towards luxury than performance (it’s certainly been that way in the past, even during the T-Type era).
That said, General Motors plans to revamp the LaCrosse for the 2014 model year, so it will be interesting to see if a Gran Sport model makes the cut sometime after then. For now however, if you fancy the idea of a twin-turbo V6 premium sedan from General Motors, your best bet will likely be the XTS.
[Source: GM Inside News]
